Deadly Desert
Return to Oz (1985) The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900) The Deadly Desert is the magically cursed desert that completely surrounds the enchanted Land of Oz. On maps, the Eastern quadrant of the desert is called the Deadly Desert, while the other three quadrants of desert are called the Shifting Sands, the Impassable Desert, and the Great Sandy Waste. Despite the different names given, each desert is as dangerous as hot lava, anyone who sets foot into the sand of any of these deserts instantly dies within a matter of seconds. First there will be many disagreeable fumes and then smoke and other gases will rise from the sands right after as the victim quickly disintegrates and becomes part of the desert forever. Notable Crossings * Dorothy Gale was carried over the desert into Oz in her house by a cyclone, and back by her Silver Shoes. ("The Wonderful Wizard of Oz") * The Wizard of Oz arrived in and left Oz in a hot air balloon. ("The Wonderful Wizard of Oz") * Tip and his companions crossed the desert twice in a flying sofa. ("The Marvelous Land of Oz") * Ozma, the ruler of Oz, crossed the desert with her whole court by use of a magical infinitely unrolling carpet. ("Ozma of Oz") * Dorothy Gale, Shaggy Man, and Button-Bright crossed the desert into Oz by use of a sand ship built by Johnny Dooit. ("The Road to Oz") * The Nome King dug a tunnel underneath the desert. ("The Emerald City of Oz") * Trot, Cap'n Bill, and Button-Bright flew over the desert carried by birds and led by Flipper the Ork. ("The Scarecrow of Oz") * Kiki Aru transformed himself into a bird and flew over from Oz, exploring the various countries of Nonestica. ("The Magic of Oz") * A giant Ruggedo hopped right over the desert, and ran back to his mountain in Ev. ("Kabumpo in Oz") * Kabumpo, Peg Amy, Pompadore, and Wag crossed over on a runaway country. ("Kabumpo in Oz") Background The desert was originally merely a desert, being as dangerous as any natural desert but no more. Indeed, in The Marvelous Land of Oz, Mombi tries to escape through it and Glinda chases her over the sands, but in Ozma of Oz, it has become a magical desert with life-destroying sands, a feature that remained constant through the rest of the series.Michael O. Riley, Oz and Beyond: The Fantasy World of L. Frank Baum, Lawrence, KS, University Press of Kansas, 1997; p 139. ISBN 0-7006-0832-X The desert is used as a literary device to explain why Oz is essentially cut off from the rest of the world. However, it has been crossed several times by people from within Oz and the outside world. In the film Return to Oz, Dorothy Gale crosses the edge of the Desert by stepping upon stones. The pack of Wheelers fail to get across in pursuit of Dorothy and her flying sofa who cross the desert to reach the Nome King's mountain. Half of the pack of Wheelers unfortunately fall into the desert and are subsequently turned into sand and killed. The rest of the Wheelers later return with Princess Mombi and cross the desert through the tunnel dug underneath the desert to reach the Nome King's mountain. In the Magic Land, the life-destroying property of the sand is absent. However, it is revealed in the second book that Gingema has placed a ring of giant black rocks around the land. These rocks attract any stranger attempting to enter the Magic Land (natives are unaffected), dooming them to death by thirst. The effect can be countered by eating magic grapes growing in a remote part of the Magic Land. It is also possible (although risky) to try slipping in the middle between two stones, where their powers cancel each other out. L. Frank Baum's dying words reportedly were, "Now we can cross the shifting sands." References Category:Locations